Obsession

I have a confession to make.

I am obsessed - VERY obsessed, with G*mboree clothes!!

Luckily, I have become very savvy about when I buy from them. So I manage to satisfy my crazy need for it at pretty stellar prices.

Just this past week we got our big quarterly box of G*mboree stuff. The one from the order where I reedemed my G*mbucks. The girls always get super excited when this box arrives.

This time around, the contents were mostly summer PJs. Aren't they just so darn cute??

Just Thoughts

Preparing for a new arrival from China (if only mentally) has made me reflect a lot on the last eighteen months since Abby joined our family.

I am in awe when I think of what an amazing child she really is.

When I allow myself to think, even for a few minutes, of what her daily life was really like when she was still in the orphanage.

When I see her next to other kids in the neighborhood, kids who have been loved and nurtured by their parents since birth, who have lived, really, like royalty. Her own siblings included.

And when I realize that to her, even after eighteen months, this is all so new.

I am not going to say that the adjustment has been a piece of cake. It has probably been the hardest thing that any of us has ever done. And it's still a work in progress.

But when I think that, and I pause to watch her, I really am amazed. Completely amazed at how smoothly she transitioned. She is truly, and has been from day one, such a sweet, sweet child. We have never, not once, had an issue with temper, or anger, any of the many things I feared so much in adopting an older child.

We struggled with food for quite a bit, and in hindsight that was probably her way of assuming some type of control over her topsy-turvy life. Then came the giant struggles over schoolwork. . And again, we have made incredible progress in this area. Easy it has not been, that's for sure. But considering she spent almost 9 years with no one having a single expectation from her academically, other than keeping her quiet and busy, it really comes as no surprise that she would be resistant to learning. At this point, she's almost caught up to grade level, and is now reading chapter books completely on her own (Way to go, Abby)

Like my friend Sonia, who's no stranger to adoption, is fond of saying, "Adoption is not for wimps". She is absolutely right. And I believe that we were very blessed with Abby, and feel like a spoiled brat for even considering any of our minor struggles a struggle at all.

That being said, even in the best case scenario, bringing home a child who has experienced tremendous loss in their very short life will rock your world.

But all good things, I think, require effort, sweat, and tears. And I cannot in a million years imagine missing out on the beauty that I am seeing unfolding before my eyes. I would not give up learning the things I have learned about myself, about my husband and children, and most importantly, about our Heavenly Father, through the experience of opening up our home and hearts to Abby. I do not care how hard the hardest days have been, I would not give this up:

The sound of her voice calling me "Mommy"

Watching my TWO daughters give each other pedicures.

Hearing her read a book - in English - to her little brother.

Feeling her lay a kiss on my cheek - a completely new concept to her at the age of NINE.

Listening to her sing praise songs - or belt them out in the shower!

Watching her fall in love with a God whose name she had not heard less than two years ago.

Seeing the understanding in her eyes, the fact that she is really getting it, when I put her on my lap and tell her that she is OURS, she is SAFE, she is LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY.

People ask about adoption all the time: "Isn't it hard?" YES - it's VERY hard (so was labor, by the way. And parenting period). But, boy, look at the rewards!!!

I can hardly contain my excitement at the little surprises I have planned for this week. Obviously, because it's 1 am my time and I'm sitting here typing about it. I have:

1 - Signed Abby AND Lanie up for soccer camp next month, which Abby doesn't know about yet. She has NEVER EVER done anything like this - and I can't wait to see her face when I tell her!!

2 - I am scheduling the girls in for a photo shoot at the photography studio. All five kids recently had some "antique" portraits done, but I've really been noticing that we really need more professional pictures of Abby. Not having her here for a chunk of her life, we really do need to "catch her up". I thought it'd be fun for the girls to do that together. I might even be talked into posing once or twice (most likely not).

3 - This isn't a surprise, but I'm excited about it anyways. Next week, the girls are doing a Golf Clinic. Again, this type of thing is completely new to Abby. She loved mini-golfing on our vacation recently, so I thought she would get a kick out of that.

So, I know this was all over the place, but I just kind of had all these thoughts floating around and wanted to get them down. I know I've probably said the same things a thousand times before. I'm just feeling very blessed these days to have these FIVE incredible lil' people that call ME "Mom"!!!!

Typhoon

So we're experiencing a "typhoon" right now.

Or the beginnings of one.

We're supposed to see most of it tomorrow.

So far today, it's been raining cats and dogs. It feels like the sky is going to fall one minute, and then it completely stops for a while. Crazy.

Meanwhile, Jake is on a summer school field trip - get this - blueberry picking. How on earth they're doing that with all this rain is beyond me. But they have a Japanese teacher, and the Japanese generally don't let a little thing like weather hold them back from anything. They're used to lots of rain, too.

The other kids are trapped in the house (well, besides James who's at work). Thank God for next door neighbors!! The girls have one friend over and Josiah has one friend over. So I'm back up to five kids in the house, which feels normal.

It's actually a lot quieter around here when they have friends in the house.

Working Man

Today my oldest son had his first taste of full time employment.

It's only for 3 weeks, but it is a REAL job, and he'll be working a full 40 hours each of those weeks.

It was really strange to drop him off this morning and watch him walk into the building, all dressed up (for him) in his polo shirt and slacks.

It was a very bittersweet moment and made me almost want to cry - he just looked so grown up!

This was a wonderful opportunity provided by the base we're stationed at. It is called "Summer Hire", and it's basically an internship for kids 14 - 18 to get a taste of, well, "real work". They pay them - peanuts - but they are getting something!!

He is working in the building right next door to his dad, so they got to have lunch together. They'll probably do that on most days for the next three weeks. What a great unplanned opportunity for some bonding time! DH went to James' office to meet him for lunch, and said it was very strange to see him sitting in his own little cubicle with a bunch of papers in front of him. We're both having flashbacks to his first steps, first lost tooth, first bike ride, all those little milestones that just seem to FLY by. And just praying that God will continue to remind us to slow down and savor the blessings we have RIGHT now. Time with our children is truly fleeting.

Meanwhile, Jake is going to a summer school program for the entire month of July. It's a Host Nation class, so he's learning about Japanes culture and getting an introduction to the language. He's really enjoying it and learning quite a bit.

Here's the thing: The class meets from 9 - 12. Which means for the entire morning, I am without a babysitter. I mean, I can't even step to the coffee shop in the next building without dragging three other people with me. I am totally spoiled by my two big boys and don't know how to live like that anymore. Spoiled.rotten. I know.

Time to Update

Wow!! Just got to looking around my blog, and started to realize how OUTDATED everything is. From the pics on the sidebar, to my buttons, to, well pretty much ALL OF IT!!

Which really should come as no surprise considering what a whirlwing this last year has been.

And the fact that we've been trying to complete the slowest moving homestudy in the history of international adoption.

Luckily, with summer here, I should soon have time to give things around here a bit of a facelift.

That is, as soon as I'm done switching out the summer clothes for the winter ones. I thought it'd be a one day job, but it's more like a week.

Feel blessed that I'm sparing you pictures!!

Sweet Summer

Summer is FINALLY here.

Well, it has been here for a couple of weeks, but those were busy weeks.

One week we spent in Tokyo, which was GREAT.

The following week we all participated in VBS (all minus Daddy). The big boys were helpers, and the smallest three attendees. James ended up being fully in charge of games, and I got a pile of compliments at the end of the week about what an awesome job he did.

Now, we're done, ready for the NOTHINGNESS of summer.

My big plans include:

1. Catching up on my blogging.

2. Lots of time at the swimming pool.

3. A bit of "mindless" reading.

4. A lot of downtime with the kids - getting to just BE and not having to teach (formally, at least).

Although I confess that I am requiring reading from Jake, Lanie, and Abby all summer. Don't have to worry about James keeping skills up over the summer anymore, and he's already an avid reader. This will probably be the last summer I require it from Jacob. Anyways, here's what they're each reading:

Jake:

Abby:

Lanie:

Lanie is working her way through this series and she's completely addicted. She is reading about one book a day or every two days.

The Story

First off, let me say that the last thing we planned was adding to our family again.
Five, well, is truly a handful of kids.
And as much as I love parenting, we really felt, well, COMPLETE.

Then we found out that China had recently changed some of their rules regarding adoption.
They were going to allow anyone adoptive parents to re-use a dossier already filed in China, if they started the process of adoption within twelve months of their last adoption being finalized.

And our hearts started stirring.
The whole "paper chase" to put together our dossier had been so daunting, we really had no desire to go through all that again anytime soon. We wanted to focus on school, and life, and just moving forward.

However, once we heard the news of the dossier being re-used, we started wondering if maybe
God wasn't opening up a window for us to step up in faith one more time. The window was very small, as it was almost the one year anniversary of Abby's adoption. So we prayed hard, and figured it was truly in God's hands. If this was His plan, we would have to be matched with a child pretty quickly.

We were thinking it would be a boy this time, as our heart had really been softened for the boys who wait in China, who seem to wait and wait, many times with no or very minor special needs.

God, however, had something else up His sleeve. And a few weeks later we were matched with our new daughter, Genevieve Grace (Evie). She just turned two this past May. She's got plump lil' cheeks. And such expressive eyes!

I absolutely cannot wait to get her home, and neither can anyone else around here. The girls, in particular, are bursting with excitement and already packing bags filled with the things they are going to "hand down" to their baby sister. It's also been a while since we've had a baby girl in this home, and so I'm stocking up on irrestible baby girl clothes. I put my sister on notice to let the shopping begin.....

We've kept this under wraps for a while because, having walked this road before, we fully understand how fragile the whole adoption process is. Basically, until that child is home with you, anything can happen. We didn't want to bring others on that emotional roller coaster with us. And frankly, although we have pre-approval from China, I still worry about things going wrong. But we are stepping up in response to His call, so once again I remind myself that if it is His will, it will come to be. We couldn't hold the news in any longer!!

I think it's too early to post pictures, and will hold off until our Letter of Approval from China is here. I'll just have to send out a private email or two if anyone just can't wait to lay eyes on her!!

Another exciting part to this adoption will be that we're planning to take the entire family to China this time!! We hope to be able to add some days on the front side of the trip to take Abby (well, all the kids, but I think it's of particular importance for her) to do some sight seeing. And it doesn't seem remotely daunting to do it from here - we don't even have to worry about jet lag!!! Abby can't stop talking about getting to see the Great Wall.

And if that wasn't enough excitement around here.....
SIX more days of school left!!!!